BELOY, JEFFREY H.
BSCE 4B
Precipitation
What is Precipitation?
 In meteorology, precipitation is any
form of water that falls from the sky as
part of the weather to the ground.
 Precipitation occurs when a portion of
the atmosphere becomes saturated
with water vapor, so that the water
condenses and “precipitates. Thus, fog
and mist are not precipitation but
suspensions, because the water vapor
does not condense sufficiently to
precipitate.
 Precipitation is the basic input to the
hydrology.
 Factors determining precipitation or the
amount of atmospheric moisture over a
region
 Climate
 Geography
 Ocean Surfaces is the chief source of
moisture for precipitation
How precipitation forms?
 Precipitation begins forming when
warm, moist air rises.
 As the air cools, water drops begin to
condense forming clouds.
 After the water droplets grow large
enough, precipitation forms.
FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
-classified into three (3):
Liquid Form
1.Rain
2.Drizzle
3.Shower
Solid Form
1.Snow
2.Hail
Mixed Form
1.Sleet
2.Hail
RAIN
-is one of the most common type of
precipitation in our atmosphere.
-is when liquid droplets fall to the surface of the
Earth.
-there are two (2) different forms of rain, either
in the form of:
 Showers
 Drizzles
-Showers are heavy, large drops of rain and
usually only last a period of time.
-Drizzles however usually last longer and made
up of small droplets of water.
-Rain can either be formed as ice crystals melt
or it can be smaller water droplets.
-Drops of water falling from a cloud, and having
a diameter of greater than 0.5 mm.
DEW
-The small drops of water which can be found
on cool surfaces like grass in the morning.
-This is the result of atmospheric vapor
condensing on the surface in the colder night
air.
SNOW
-Snow is the second most common precipitation
in the North East.
-Snow forms when water vapor turns directly
into ice without ever passing through a liquid
state. This happens as water condenses around
an ice crystals.
-Snow is normally seen together with high, thin
and weak cirrus clouds.
-Density of freshly fallen snow varies between
125-500 mm of snow required to equal 25 mm
of liquid water.
-Density varies from 0.06 to 0.15 g/ 𝒄𝒎𝟑
SLEET
-Sleet, also known as ice pellets, form when
snow falls into a warm layer then melts into rain
and then the rain droplets falls into a freezing
layer of air that is cold enough to refreeze the
raindrops into ice pellets.
-They should not be confused with hailstones as
they are smaller in size.
-Ice pellets (sleet) bounce when they hit the
ground or any other solid objects and falls with
a hard striking sound.
HAIL
-Hailstones are big balls and irregular lumps of
ice that fall from large thunderstorms.
-Hail is purely a solid precipitation. Hailstones
are predominately experienced in the winter or
cold weather. Hailstones are mostly made up of
water ice and measure between 0.2 inches (5
millimeters) and 6 inches (15 centimeters) in
diameter.
-They are highly damaging to crops, tearing
leaves apart and reducing their value.
GLAZE
-Glaze is the ice coating, generally clear and
smooth, formed on exposed surfaces by the
freezing of super cooled water deposited by
rain or drizzle.
-Specific gravity may be as high as 0.8-0.9